This is a guest blog re-ported from Brad Howe's November Newsletter. Brad is the owner of Financial Managers Trust.

Even though I had done it six or seven times over the years, there was no certainty that I could do it again. Seven years had passed since the last time, and it doesn't get easier as you get older. It wasn't that the burden was getting too much to bear -- I'd been carrying most of it for at least a couple of years -- simply that I was getting squeezed all around. My clothes really didn't fit: proof that you can't get eleven pounds of flour in a ten-pound sack. I needed to lose weight.

The Balanced Scorecard methodology can drive amazing results. It can also cause a royal headache if improperly publicized. As with any leadership tool or report, your organization must be careful to understand what impacts a public report may have. Local non-profits are usually the least at-risk, with publicly traded companies and governmental organizations requiring more due diligence. Regardless of your status, it's worth understanding the key concepts below:Publicly Traded Companies: If you work at a publicly traded company, be careful not to share Balanced Scorecard information regarding business forecasts. For example, many companies have restrictions leading up to quarterly or annual financial results reporting, where no forecasting or performance information can be released. (These types of sensitivities often apply as well to private non-profit organizations that have to issue regular performance reports to donors and board members.) In the case of a publicly traded organization, disclosure restrictions must be factored into the decision on how to report results. FOIA Exposure: If your organization is a government agency subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), every piece of recording information within your agency – whether it's meeting minutes, memos, e-mails, or a rough draft of a new policy – could potentially be subject to FOIA requests from members of the public or press. This means that unless your Balanced Scorecard contains FOIA-exempt information like national security secrets, personnel information, or other confidential information, you may be asked to share the details behind your publicly available scorecard. Of course, even if you're not subject to FOIA, there are other reasons why your organization might not want to disclose all of the information on your Balanced Scorecard. To protect yourself, there are a few key principles to keep in mind as you protect your agency's proprietary and/or sensitive information. Government Agencies: should understand what information is exempt from FOIA. There are nine specific exemptions worth investigating including national security secrets, personnel files, medical records, or information pursuant to law enforcement investigations would not need to be disclosed. Redaction and Proprietary Statements: are the first line of warning staff about sensitive information. Time Limitations: may be related to information requests. There might be organizational, local, state, or federal statutes that further protect sensitive information by allowing a lag time between collection and availability of public review. Publicly Traded Companies: may be subject to other regulations should financial information be disclosed via a publicly posted Balanced Scorecard. Consider using metrics or rating scales that eliminate the disclosure of prohibited information. Utilizing a less detailed public report can allow senior management the detail and privacy leadership needs while still ensuring accountability to the public. International Regulations: may require drastically different precautions so if your information is proprietary or sensitive, seeking legal counsel on the matter may be a good precaution. Ultimately, the Balanced Scorecard methodology is a one-of-a-kind planning tool that will give your organization shared knowledge of vision, current state, and key trends. From our experience, the benefits far outweigh the possible risks related to managing public records. And as every non-profit and governmental organization exists to improve the surrounding community – the best Balanced Scorecards ultimately should be displaying and celebrating your good works. If you have any questions or would like help protecting your scorecard- we are just a call away. Note: The ACLU has a helpful book called: "The Step by Step Guide to Using the Freedom of Information Act"

President Obama has tried to inspire the collegiate world by setting a goal for the United States to have the highest percentage of college graduates in the world by 2020. Looking at this goal very simply, the colleges, especially state universities need to start graduating more students. The situation gets a little more complex when you realize that colleges rely very heavily on state funding, and with the economic crisis, most budgets have been cut. The University of Hawaii system has seen its budget cut over 20% from 2009-2011. So, how can you increase graduate rates with fewer and fewer resources?

Uncommon Schools just announced its 2009-2010 education results. For those of you that do not know of Uncommon, they are a charter management organization that manages 24 schools with almost 5,000 students. Their schools operate in New York City, Newark, NJ, Boston, and upstate New York. They focus on creating a rigorous and joyful education environment, where the teachers can focus on teaching and most administrative functions are managed centrally. Like many charter organizations and public school reformers, they believe that all students can achieve, regardless of their background, race, or economic circumstances.

No matter what size your organization - whether you have major corporate donors or a small army of individual donors - sponsors are the ones who keep the lights on and the doors open. These sponsors expect results and one place they look is Charity Navigator. Tips about improving your ranking are continued below.Every dollar counts and your sponsors are looking to get a solid return on their charitable investments. If your non-profit can show results – and can show that you are wise stewards of the money donated to your organization – you're more likely to see steady or increased funding. Non-profits that cannot demonstrate key metrics of success are likely to lose sponsors and face drastic cuts in their services. One of the most influential ratings services for non-profits is Charity Navigator. This website evaluates thousands of non-profit organizations using financial data to point out which organizations are financially sound and which ones are less effective. If you want a way to excite your sponsors, getting favorable ratings on Charity Navigator is a good way to start. The Balanced Scorecard methodology can be helpful in improving your organization's performance in the areas that are most important to the Charity Navigator rankings. Some of the specific areas reported are detailed below. These areas do not capture your entire business model but it's worth comparing and possibly aligning your goals to maximize your online ranking. Fundraising efficiency: Charities that are efficient are able to raise substantial funding without excessive marketing costs. How does your non-profit stack up? Are you devoting too much of your budget to fundraising, or paying big fees to "for-profit" fundraising organizations? This could drive down your ratings on Charity Navigator, and could also be a sign of potential problems for your organization. Program expenses: Efficient charities are able to devote the bulk of their budget to spending on programs and services – the day to day mission that is the reason the organization exists. If a non-profit is devoting too much money to non-program expenses like conferences and auxillary expenses, it will fall in the ratings. Administrative expenses: While it's important to hire and retain good people to run the organization, non-profits need to keep their administrative expenses at a reasonable level. Charity Navigator measures the overall administrative fees as a percentage of each organization's budget, and compares this percentage to benchmarks at peer organizations. Organizational capacity: This category measures how successfully a non-profit has sustained its programs and services over time, and evaluates the organization's financial strength and prospects for continued success. In this category, slow and steady performance are ideal. Revenue growth versus program expenses growth: How fast is your non-profit growing? How much money do you have coming in each year, and how much of this new money are you spending on additional programs and services? High-capacity charities know how to grow their services in proportion to increasing funding. This measure attempts to show if an organization has the people, systems, and processes in place to successfully convert new money into expanding their mission. Working capital ratio: This is a measure of a non-profit's financial strength, calculated by dividing the organization's amount of working capital by its total annual expenses. This is a way of showing how long the charity could sustain its current programs without new revenue – it's kind of like calculating a charity's "rainy day" fund; even if no new money was raised, how long could the charity stay in business? Now that you have a better understanding of Charity Navigator and how it evaluates non-profits, you can use the Balanced Scorecard methodology to focus on the objectives and measures that motivate your organization, predict success, and excite your sponsors too! We have considerable experience helping non-profits become more aligned and effective organizations. Should you have any questions or need a trusted advisor along the way - we are just one call or email away!

The city of Charlottesville, VA is in the process of rolling out a performance management and measurement initiative. This initiative is managed by the Office of Budget and Performance Management and is called P3 within the city. It stands for "Plan, Perform, Perfect."

"The Goal" by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt, is a best-seller in the management sphere and directly relates to an organization's understanding of its own Balanced Scorecard. One interesting thing about "The Goal" is that it's actually a novel – you might even call it a "business thriller." Although it explores in-depth academic theories, it does so via an engaging fictional story.In the book, the main character Alex Rogo is promoted to be a plant manager and quickly given an ultimatum: improve productivity in three months, or the plant will be shut down. As the book progresses, he goes through a dramatic process of reinventing the plant, rethinking his assumptions about how the plant's work is mapped and measured, and finds ways to align previously conflicting demands. He accomplishes all this by listing the many garbled metrics he is responsible for and then begins to analyze each one for opportunities. One of the important management principles explored in Eli Goldratt's book is his idea of the "Theory of Constraints." This theory holds that within any organization, there are several key constraints preventing that organization from achieving optimal performance. In the manufacturing world, throughput and quality are key. In service organizations, throughput is still key, but people are the focus and customer service is analogous to quality. In a service oriented business, you want to find the constraints that are preventing the organization from serving more customers with an ever higher level of satisfaction. Similar to Balanced Scorecard, the Theory of Constraints also uses the idea of "mapping" to create a visual representation of the organization's tactical objectives and develop a clear course from the "present reality" to the "future reality." The Theory of Constraints helps identify the "Core Conflict" at the heart of a problem (similar to the idea of root cause analysis), and helps leaders realize ways to adapt their policies, methods and metrics to achieve the desired changes in their organizations. Ultimately, by identifying the constraints, leaders can then restructure their organizations around the constraints. Constraints are not limitations, they are road signs, showing the directions that an organization can turn and adjust. One of the biggest challenges in changing an organization is overcoming resistance to change – even if top management want to make a change, the people directly involved might have other ideas. Sometimes people like the way a certain process is done – or they fear the possible implications for their jobs. Other times, there might be leaders or peers who have conflicting agendas or competing goals, which can result in resistance to change. By incorporating the Theory of Constraints to better understand the road blocks Balanced Scorecard, and organization is much more likely to succeed. Ascendant has decades of combined experience identifying and overcoming key constraints. If your organization would like more information or help on the subjects, please feel free to contact us!

Many non-profit organizations, associations, and government agencies use the Balanced Scorecard as a way to overcome the strains and varying pulls of their combined energies. But have you ever considered that the Balanced Scorecard can help you outside of work as well?People are busier than ever before – we're working longer hours, we're becoming ever more stretched by Outlook, Facebook, and even that business trip you took. And all of us, in one way or another, are trying to do more with less. One challenge of modern life is that it can be hard to take a step back and look at the "big picture" of our lives. Using a Balanced Scorecard approach can help, just by considering the simple questions:

• Are we really making time for the people that mean the most to us?
• Are we really shaping our lives in a way that will bring peace and fulfillment?
• Are we saving for the future, both emergencies and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities?
• Can I build a stronger, more confident, yet more caring family too?

Let's look at an example Balanced Scorecard to see how this technique might apply to a typical family... To make a Balanced Scorecard with your family, consider using the following Balanced Scorecard Perspectives – this is similar to a typical organization's Balanced Scorecard Perspectives, but replacing the generic "Customer Perspective" with Family Happiness" instead: Finances & Risk Management: What are the various financial goals that you are trying to achieve for your family? For example:

• Emergency funds: Most financial planners recommend having at least three months of salary in the bank. Do you have it?
• Long-term savings: This includes lifelong goals like retirement, college funds for children.
• Discretionary spending: How much do you get to spend each month? Are you happy with that number, or do you feel stretched, stressed, and too close to the line?
• Time off: Do you want more time away from work? Can you adjust your finances to "buy" more time?
• Insurance: Are you and your family protected against the risk of catastrophic loss? Whether it's your home, your life, your car, or your health, make sure you're covered.

Family Happiness: Your family, be it your parents, your significant other, and even your pets should be a safe haven from the dangers of life. So many times though, family is only seen as another source of stress. Imagining you and your family all as customers of this "organization", can any initiatives build better bonds?

• Family dinners: how often do you and your family sit down together at the dinner table? Are the dinners boring and rigid, or is everyone excited to bring their stories of the day?
• Service to others: Does your family get involved in the community? Do you make time to go visit relatives? When was the last time your family volunteered at a soup kitchen or made a donation to a charity?
• Spiritual life: Do you attend religious services with your family? If you do not belong to an organized religious group, how can your family better share affection and emotional comfort, and express gratitude for your lives together?

Learning and Growth: How can you do more to invest in the "human capital" of your family? What do you want to learn from, and teach to, your loved ones?

• Music: What musical instrument would you like to learn to play? What about your children? Music has been proven to relax the mind after a long day at work.
• Reading: What magazines do you love to read? Who are your favorite authors? How can you encourage your children to spend more time reading for fun?
• Travel: Where in the world would you most like to go during your lifetime? What are your favorite annual travel destinations?
• Friends and connections: Invest in your family's "social capital" – your network of all the friends, acquaintances and contacts who might be able to help you (or your family) in the future – and who you would gladly help as well. When was the last time you invited some good friends over for dinner?

Internal Processes: How well does your family "work?" What are the internal systems and processes that affect how smoothly and harmoniously your lives go at home?

• Managing the Household: Do you have a regular system of assigning chores? Who does which tasks? How do you decide? Does everyone know their responsibilities?
• Trying new things: How "innovative" is your family? Are you open to new ideas, or stuck in your ways?
• Relationship management: How strong are your family's connections with other family and friends? Do you often socialize with others, or do you keep to yourselves?

Using a Balanced Scorecard approach to your family and personal life can present some important questions. There are no "right" or "wrong" answers, but you can make some powerful changes by understanding expectations and how to maximize the strength, safety, and support of a family while minimizing the financial and emotional stress of maintaining lifelong companionship. Here's to a happy, healthy, and fulfilling future!

Leadership at a non-profit or government agency is not always about high-level thinking and flying-by-wire; sometimes you need to get up close and personal with a pesky problem or uncooperative trends and measures. Leaders especially need to know how to identify the root cause of a problem. Go beyond the symptoms and surface appearances and find the deeper reasons for the problem – this is what we mean by "root cause analysis."Here are a few key elements of root cause analysis: Look at the big picture Whatever the problem – whether it's a challenge related to finances, motivation, education, or hiring & firing – you need to make sure you understand the full details. Ask questions. Get the perspectives of a number of people involved with the problem – don't fully accept the first story you hear. Ask "Five Whys" This basically means that in order to uncover the root cause of a problem, you need to ask "why" at least five times, in order to drill down deeper and discover the true causes of a problem that lie beneath the surface. For example – consider a non-profit organization that was having trouble meeting its fund raising goals. The first "why": "Why aren't we raising as much money this quarter as we did last quarter?" "Well, I think it's because we only sent two fund raising pamphlets this quarter." The second "why": "Why did we only send two fund raising requests?" "In this case, I think it's because our fund raising manager has been re-assigned to Member Relations two days a week." The third "why": "Why was she re-assigned?" "Because the program director decided that building member relationships was more valuable than direct fund raising appeals." The fourth "why": "Why did they make that decision?" "Because a lot of our members were giving us feedback that the fund raising appeals were too impersonal and too frequent – they wanted a more authentic connection with our organization." The fifth "why": "Why are we having trouble creating a more authentic connection with our members?" The answer to the fifth "why" is essential – this shows how the conversation (which was originally about money and fund raising appeals) actually needs to focus on something that is ultimately more essential to the organization – the authentic sense of connection and identity between the organization and the members it serves. If that sense of connection is there, the money will follow. And Remember- It's Not All Bad Root cause analysis is not just about examining what is going "wrong," it's about learning from what is going "right." In addition to troubleshooting and identifying problems, root cause analysis offers you the chance to find out what is going well within the organization, and then duplicating those successes elsewhere! Have You had problems with obscure root causes? If so, we would love to hear your story at the BSC Community Ps. A great video link is posted there too!

Rochester City School District is in the process of reinventing itself, and perhaps, reinventing the way that educational leaders across the country think about K12 educational performance. Rochester is on its way to improving its graduation rate, growing it from an abysmal 39% to an acceptable 75%, but Rochester's ambitions do not stop there.